Sightings of people entering and emerging from New York City’s underground sewer system this summer have left residents wondering what is happening below the streets.
NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. — Two men have been arrested in a mysterious case that puzzled investigators and New Yorkers after people were repeatedly seen moving in and out of the city’s extensive subterranean sewer network.
Samuel Reveron, 25, and Kevin Rodriguez, 26, were each charged with two counts of trespassing, NBC News reported.
The men were arrested after they allegedly climbed out of the sewer system in Manhattan at about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to a criminal complaint. The manhole was located near the hotel where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to stay during his attendance at the U.N. General Assembly.
According to the court document, the men “identified themselves as the individuals that entered the manhole.” They told authorities they had gone underground together to search for valuables that may have been swept into storm drains.
The pair have not been charged in connection with any other sewer-related incident. However, the New York Police Department said the case “fits that same criteria” as earlier episodes, NBC News reported.
Security footage captured several nighttime incidents earlier this summer in which groups entered or exited sewer tunnels through street maintenance holes in Brooklyn and Queens.
In one Williamsburg incident, about seven people were seen emerging from a maintenance hole. They wore headlamps and carried what appeared to be shovels and other tools. As the group climbed onto the street, one person narrowly avoided being struck by a passing vehicle.
Another video showed roughly seven people coming out of a maintenance hole at around 2 a.m. on a quiet street in Brooklyn’s Gravesend neighborhood. They walked to parked cars, where they retrieved clean clothes and changed. Police said the group had entered the sewer at about 11 p.m., suggesting they may have spent three hours underground.
Earlier, in May, three people wearing waterproof hip waders and other protective equipment forced open a maintenance hole cover and descended into a Queens sewer. The last person closed the cover as approaching vehicles slowed down.
Rob Wolejsza, a spokesperson for the department, told the Associated Press in June that entering the sewer system is not only illegal but also “extremely dangerous.”
“Sewers can contain numerous hazards, including noxious and potentially deadly gases, unstable surfaces, flooding risks, and confined spaces,” Wolejsza said in a statement. “For these reasons, members of the public should never enter a pipe, drain, catch basin, manhole, or outfall.”
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